header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
10 January 2014
Issue: 7589 / Categories: Case law , Law reports
printer mail-detail

Religion—Definition of “place of meeting for religious worship”—Registration of place for marriage ceremony

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

R (on the application of Hodkin and another) v Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages [2013] UKSC 77, [2013] All ER (D) 100 (Dec)

Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger P, Lord Clarke, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed and Lord Toulson SCJJ, 11 December 2013

A Scientology chapel is a “place of meeting for religious worship” within the meaning of s 2 of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (PWRA 1855); religion for the purposes of the Act may be described as a spiritual or non-secular belief system, held by a group of adherents, which claimed to explain mankind’s place in the universe and relationship with the infinite, and to teach its adherents how they were to live their lives in conformity with the spiritual understanding associated with the belief system. 

Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC and Naina Patel (instructed by Withers LLP) for the appellants. James Strachan QC (instructed by Treasury Solicitors) for the respondent.

The first appellant was

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Seddons GSC—Ben Marks

Seddons GSC—Ben Marks

Partner joins residential real estate team

Winckworth Sherwood—Shazia Bashir

Winckworth Sherwood—Shazia Bashir

Social housing team announces partner appointment

University of Manchester: The LLM driving tech-focused career growth

University of Manchester: The LLM driving tech-focused career growth

Manchester’s online LLM has accelerated career progression for its graduates

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: 40 years on, has PACE lost its edge?
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
NLJ this week: Stress-testing the City
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
NLJ this week: How sure is ‘sure’ enough?
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
NLJ this week: A deferred prosecution reprieve
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
NLJ this week: Mandelson, Epstein & the court of popular opinion
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll